Martin Collins, reflecting on the correlation between the wave sheaf offering, beginning the count to Pentecost, and the wave-loaf offering on Pentecost, reminds us that Jesus Christ is the First Born from the dead and the Firstfruits. Like Christ, we too are firstfruits, represented by the leavened loaves picturing our acceptance by the Father. Both offerings depict a harvest as well as the same resurrection—the First,. Pentecost also envisions a time when God will repair the chaos caused by sin. For example, He will eliminate today's confusion about gender identification. Further, because God's Spirit will eventually unite everyone, people will be able to communicate with one another. We are a tiny smidgeon of all those who have been called over the ages, exercising faith that God will work with us if we yield to the power of His Holy Spirit—an invisible force which enables overcoming. God guides us through this period of sanctification to Eternal life. After 6,000 years, God's family will be building on the foundation God has established by sealing the Church with His Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

David Grabbe, cuing in on Genesis 1:1 and the Hebrew word translated "in the beginning," informs us that this is also the word for "firstfruits." God takes greater delight in a first fruit than those coming in a later harvest. Wisdom is a first-fruit, and has, itself, first-fruits, including the fear of Lord. The first-fruits were set aside for the priests who served the temple. The firstborn of a man's family is designated as first-fruits, receiving double honor. The physical nation of Israel was God's first fruits, planted to bear fruit, but sadly, like the cursed fig tree, it failed to produce much more than weeds. As Christ's called-out ones, we are the current crop of First Fruits, given a new spiritual birth. God has ordained that we bear spiritual fruit, in a totally different dimension from the first fruits of physical Israel.

John Ritenbaugh indicates that we are being fitted as lively stones into an already formed Kingdom, being conformed to the image of Christ, who has been designated as the Cornerstone. As God's future priests, becoming living sacrifices, we will constitute God's department of health, education, and welfare, serving and helping humanity. The Israel of God becomes God's firstborn, being set aside as a chosen generation to help the High Priest, Jesus Christ. This role as Christ's assistants is what we are being prepared for, a role which will call for rigorous discipline. This rigor will enable us to be totally transformed from the inside out, bringing about a renewal of our minds and a change of character. We are appointed on men's behalf to deal with things pertaining to God. We will become the link between men and God. We will offer sacrifice, largely consisting of intercessory prayer. We have to have compassion, sympathy, and empathy with mankind, realizing the repertoire of our own weaknesses. Like Christ, we must learn from the things we have suffered, making us able to aid those who have been tempted. God has hand-picked or chosen us as forerunners because He loved us; we dare not squander this precious calling of training for the Royal Priesthood. The more we know God, the stronger and more insightful we will get, enabling us to build one another up in Godly love, thinking with the mind of the Father and Jesus Christ, with His Law written in our hearts.

The images that Jesus used to explain the spiritual birth of a Christian have confused many down through the centuries. John Ritenbaugh explains His use of "wind" and "Spirit," as well as the concepts of "Jerusalem above" and "firstborn" in relation to the born-again doctrine. The Bible consistently compares Christians to already-born and maturing children or adults.

John Ritenbaugh asserts that we keep the Days of Unleavened Bread, not just as a memorial of the Passover and Exodus event, but because of what the Lord did to bring us out of sin (typified by Egypt). What God does sets everything in motion, significantly eclipsing what we are required to do. God continually does battle for us, breaking down the resistance of Satan (typified by Pharaoh). While God compels us to make choices, He is with us all the way, leading us out of our abject slavery to sin into freedom and eternal life. It is God's calling that makes a difference; no one ever volunteers to follow Him. All that God did to get physical Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land served as a type of what God does for us, calling us out of this world into the Kingdom of God. God is sovereign, necessitating that we diligently seek Him in order to be like Him, yielding to His sanctification, getting rid of all our false gods, worshipping Him in spirit and truth. As a branch attached or grafted to a vine, we cannot do anything without Jesus Christ, who alone enables us to produce or bear fruit through God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, and Christ's own Spirit dwelling in us. God is exclusively the God of His people and no one else.

The church plays a major role in God's Word, so it is no wonder that the church is represented by literally dozens of symbols. These symbols, taken together, paint a very detailed picture of the future bride of Christ.

How does God define the church? What comprises it according to the Bible? The ekklesia, the Greek word translated "church" in the Bible, is not a humanly defined corporation, but the mystical body of Christ, having the Spirit of God. The true church of God is an invisible, spiritual organism, of those people that have and are led by the Spirit of God. And such a person will not turn away from the teaching delivered by the apostles.

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The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 145,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.

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